Not all workplace harassment is illegal. The laws enforced by EEOC make it illegal to harass someone because of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, disability, age (40 or older), or genetic information (including family medical history). Federal employment discrimination law does not make it illegal to harass someone for other reasons—for example, because of a picture he posted on his Facebook page or because she roots for a particular sports team. Even so, some employers may have “zero tolerance policies” that are stricter than federal law and prohibit all forms of harassment. As a result, it’s a good idea to not harass others at work for any reason.

In this example, the customer made comments related to national origin to Jorge. However, the comments were only made once, so it is unlikely that the customer’s behavior would be considered severe or frequent enough to represent illegal harassment.

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3. Jorge, a Honduran citizen living in the United States, accepted a summer job with a landscaping company. On his first day, Jorge broke a lawn mower, prompting the customer to yell at him. The customer called Jorge “stupid” and complained that foreign kids like Jorge were stealing jobs from hard-working Americans. Jorge did not see the customer again during the rest of the summer. Did the customer illegally harass Jorge?